Xuan Yuan Sect's Mission Hall stood halfway up the main peak. Three stories high, with soaring eaves and ornate brackets, it saw an endless stream of people before its doors.
As Qin Yuan stepped over the threshold, a wave of clamorous noise hit him head-on. Dozens of jade walls floated in midair, shimmering with flowing light as densely packed mission information scrolled across them. Qi Refining Stage disciples crowded the first floor, Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators went to the second, and higher still, it was said that only Inner Sect elites or elders could accept missions.
He headed straight for the jade wall on the far left—most of the missions posted there carried high risks and high rewards.
His gaze swept over them:
[Gather a hundred-year Blood Spirit Ganoderma. Location: Black Wind Cliff. Reward: eighty Mid-grade Spirit Crystals.] [Hunt a three-eyed demon wolf and retrieve its demon core. Reward: one hundred and twenty Mid-grade Spirit Crystals.] [Escort a merchant caravan to Qingzhou City. Reward: one hundred and fifty Mid-grade Spirit Crystals.]
These missions were already at the limit of what Qi Refining Stage disciples could handle. Some even required several people to form a team. But what Qin Yuan sought was a major job that could provide all the resources needed for a system upgrade in one go.
At last, in the lower-right corner of the jade wall, he spotted a line of dark-red text:
[Explore the abandoned mine "White Bone Cave" and retrieve three "Yin Fiend Crystals." Note: Recent disturbances have occurred within the mine. Evil cultivators are suspected to be present. Mission rank: Qi Refining level (extremely high risk). Reward: three hundred Mid-grade Spirit Crystals and one bottle of "Core Condensing Pills."]
Several Qi Refining Stage disciples nearby saw the mission and shook their heads as they skirted around it.
"White Bone Cave? That place is cursed as hell. Last month, Senior Brother Wang led a team of five inside. Only two came back, and both of them had gone mad."
"I heard the yin energy inside is incredibly heavy. Even Qi Refining cultivators will damage their foundations if they stay too long..."
Qin Yuan's eyes, however, lit up.
Three hundred Spirit Crystals, plus the Core Condensing Pills—though those pills were not as valuable as Foundation Establishment Pills, each was still worth fifty or sixty Spirit Crystals, and a bottle usually contained three. Together, they would be enough to fill the gap for the system upgrade.
He reached out and pressed the line of text. The jade wall flashed faintly, and the mission information condensed into a jade slip that fell into his palm.
"You're sure you want to accept this?" The steward at the registration desk looked up at him, his gaze lingering on Qin Yuan's gray robe. "An outer sect disciple? Which layer of Qi Refining are you at?"
"Tenth layer." Qin Yuan gave a conservative number.
The steward frowned. "For the White Bone Cave mission, it is recommended that Twelfth Layer Qi Refining cultivators form a team before going. Accepting it alone is far too dangerous."
"I'll take it." Qin Yuan's tone was calm.
The steward shook his head and did not try to persuade him further, recording the information in a jade register. Just as Qin Yuan turned to leave, a transmission talisman hidden in the steward's sleeve silently shattered—it was something a manager from Third Peak had specifically instructed him about yesterday: "If you see a gray-robed outer sect disciple named Qin Yuan accepting a high-risk mission, report to me immediately."
By the time he left the Mission Hall, the sun had already tilted westward.
Qin Yuan did not hurry off at once. He first went to the market and bought some antidote pills and Amulets of Warding, then picked up an ordinary iron sword as a disguise—the Mysterious Iron Sword was too conspicuous. Finally, he ate a bowl of plain noodles at a small stall before making his way unhurriedly toward the mountain gate.
His steps were steady, even leisurely, but his Spiritual Sense had already silently spread out like a spiderweb.
The "extreme realm" of the Thirteenth Layer of Qi Cultivation brought not only strength, but Spiritual Sense far beyond that of others at the same level. Just three miles beyond the mountain gate, he detected three concealed auras following him from a hundred zhang behind.
They were not disciples from Third Peak.
The three men radiated a chilly aura, their steps light and swift, their concealment techniques exceptionally practiced. If not for Qin Yuan's unusual Spiritual Sense, he would never have noticed them. Like three jackals waiting for their chance to strike, they maintained precisely the right distance—not close enough to startle the prey, nor far enough to lose their target.
Qin Yuan sneered inwardly.
Liu Zhenshan moved quickly. He did not dare act openly, but in secret, he had sent assassins without the slightest hesitation.
He deliberately turned onto a remote mountain path. Ancient trees towered on both sides, and vines blotted out the sun. This was already the edge of Xuan Yuan Sect's sphere of influence; beyond lay the true wilderness.
The three behind him closed in further.
After another half li, Qin Yuan reached a clearing in the woods and stopped.
"After following me for so long, aren't you tired?"
His voice was not loud, but it rang especially clearly through the silent mountain forest.
After a brief silence, three figures emerged at once from behind trees, beside rocks, and from the grass, forming a triangular formation around Qin Yuan.
All three wore grayish-brown fitted garments and had ordinary faces, the sort that would vanish into a crowd without a trace. But their eyes were cold and numb, as though they were looking at a corpse.
The scar-faced man in the middle licked his lips. "Kid, you're pretty alert. Too bad you noticed too late."
The one-eyed man on the left grinned, exposing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Someone paid three hundred Spirit Crystals for your life. Don't worry, brothers like us work cleanly. It won't hurt."
The short, skinny man on the right said nothing. He merely slowly drew a pair of poisoned short blades.
Qin Yuan swept his gaze over the three of them and had already made his judgment: all were at the Twelfth Layer, but their auras were solid and condensed. They had clearly survived many battles, and their practical experience far surpassed that of sect disciples. Moreover, their positions faintly formed a combined assault formation. They were obviously veterans accustomed to working together.
"The three Qi Refining assassins?" Qin Yuan suddenly recalled seeing their portraits on the wanted list in the Mission Hall. "Blood Hand, Lone Wolf, Poison Scorpion. They say no fewer than thirty Qi Refining cultivators have died by your hands. You specialize in taking sect assassination jobs."
Blood Hand, the scar-faced man, raised his brow. "Oh? You've heard our names. Then you should know even better that no one targeted by us has ever lived."
"That was before." Qin Yuan slowly drew his iron sword. "After today, it won't be."
Lone Wolf burst into laughter. "Big Brother, this kid's pretty arrogant!"
Before his words had even faded, all three figures sprang into motion at once!
Blood Hand charged head-on. Bloody light glimmered over his iron palms, and the force of his palms reeked of blood and rot; he had clearly cultivated some kind of poison art. Lone Wolf circled in from the left, his chain spear darting out like a venomous dragon flicking its tongue, thrusting straight for Qin Yuan's waist. Poison Scorpion was the most sinister of them all. He lowered his body and nearly slid along the ground, his twin blades slashing toward Qin Yuan's ankles.
Fast, ruthless, precise!
The three worked together seamlessly, sealing off every path of retreat. An ordinary Twelfth Layer Qi Refining cultivator would not last three breaths against such an encirclement.
Qin Yuan did not retreat.
He did not even look at the attacks coming from either side. His gaze remained fixed solely on Blood Hand before him.
He raised his iron sword and thrust straight ahead.
There was no Sword Qi, no radiance—just the simplest possible straight thrust.
Yet Blood Hand's expression changed drastically! As that ordinary iron sword stabbed toward him, it felt as though it carried the weight of an entire mountain. Before the tip even reached him, the terrifying pressure had already made breathing difficult!
"Not good!" he roared, frantically slamming both palms toward the blade.
Clang—!!!
When iron palms collided with an iron sword, the sound that erupted was a thunderous crash of metal. Blood Hand felt an irresistible force blast through his arms and into his body, instantly displacing his internal organs!
"Puh—!" He vomited blood wildly and flew backward, smashing through two large trees before hitting the ground. His chest had caved in, and he was clearly beyond saving.
Only then did Lone Wolf's chain spear and Poison Scorpion's twin blades finally touch Qin Yuan's robes.
Qin Yuan shot out his left hand, his fingers hooked like claws, and precisely seized the spearhead of the chain spear before yanking hard!
To Lone Wolf's horror, the Poison Dragon Spear he had cultivated for twenty years was caught barehanded—and an immense force came through it, dragging his entire body forward.
What greeted him was Qin Yuan's raised right knee.
Crack—!
His breastbone shattered completely. Lone Wolf's eyes bulged as he crumpled limply to the ground.
Poison Scorpion was the last. Seeing that things had gone wrong, he abandoned his attack without the slightest hesitation and shot backward, flinging out three poisoned darts at Qin Yuan's face!
Without even looking, Qin Yuan casually swept his iron sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
All the poisoned darts were knocked away. And Qin Yuan's figure had already appeared before Poison Scorpion like a ghost.
Poison Scorpion was scared out of his wits. He desperately waved his twin blades forward in a wild frenzy. Qin Yuan merely extended one finger and tapped him between the brows.
The motion was as gentle as brushing away dust.
Poison Scorpion froze. His pupils scattered, and he slowly collapsed. There was only a tiny red mark between his brows, but his brain had already been shaken into pulp by spiritual power.
From the moment the three attacked to the moment they were all wiped out, only five breaths had passed.
Qin Yuan sheathed his sword, his breathing as steady as before. He walked over to the three corpses and removed their storage bags.
His Spiritual Sense swept through them. There was quite a hodgepodge inside: poisons, concealed weapons, several sinister cultivation manuals, more than a hundred Mid-grade Spirit Crystals, and some scattered medicinal pills.
Qin Yuan took out all the Spirit Crystals and pills and silently said, "Feed."
[Feeding successful. Upgrade progress +15%.]
Five percent remained.
He fed the several evil cultivation manuals and all the miscellaneous items as well.
[Feeding successful. Upgrade progress +3%.] [Feeding successful. Upgrade progress +2%.]
When the last miscellaneous item vanished, the system panel in his mind suddenly bloomed with dazzling golden light!
[Energy requirement met! System upgrading...] [Upgrade successful!] [Ten Years Cultivation Per Day System → Twenty Years Cultivation Per Day System] [Current level: 2 (0/5000)] [New function unlocked: Cultivation can be accumulated and stored. Maximum storage time: three days.]
Qin Yuan's breath caught.
Twenty years a day! And it could be accumulated and stored, meaning that if he did not withdraw it for three days, he could gain sixty years of cultivation in one go!
He forcefully suppressed his excitement and swiftly cleaned up the scene. He dragged the three corpses into a natural crack between rocks and sprinkled them with Corpse Dissolving Powder. Moments later, only three pools of yellow water remained.
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